Cast: Drew Barrymore, Luke Wilson, Catherine O'Hara, Jake Busey, Shelley Duvall
Director: Dean Parisot
Producers: Mark Johnson, Barry Levinson, Lawrence Kasdan, Charles Newirth
Screenplay: Vince Gilligan
Cinematography: Jerzy Zielinski
Music: Rachel Portman
U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers
Drew Barrymore is in the midst of a massive image overhaul. With prominent, sweet-as-honey roles in movies like Everyone Says I Love You, The Wedding Singer, Ever After, and Home Fries, the actress is attempting to erase the bad girl legacy generated by a wild, tabloid-chronicled lifestyle and parts in the likes of Poison Ivy and Mad Love. Over the course of a career, many actors re-invent themselves; some do it numerous times. What's unusual in Barrymore's case is that she is accomplishing the feat at such a young age. Fortunately for her, she has both the talent and the charisma to make us accept almost any role she chooses to essay.
That's the case with Home Fries, a half-baked romantic comedy starring a red-haired Barrymore (her third hair color in three films) as Sally, a pregnant young Texan who falls for the stepson of the married man who fathered her unborn child. Barrymore is undeniably appealing in this role, but she's one of the movie's few assets. The other actors in this project do little to offer effective support, and the script seems at least a draft or two shy of a final, polished effort. Consequently, while Home Fries contains a few good scenes, it is largely uneven and awkward, and is lumbered by a plot with too many unnecessary twists.
The movie introduces us to Sally (Barrymore), who works at a small town burger joint, and Henry Lever (Chris Ellis), the forty-something man who has been carrying on an extramarital affair with her. In an attempt to keep the rocky relationship afloat, Henry lies to Sally, telling her that he has come clean with his wife. She doesn't believe him, and he ends up heading home alone. He never reaches his destination, however. On the way, his car is chased by a helicopter, and he has a heart attack before he can get away. His tormentors turn out to be his stepsons, timid Dorian (Luke Wilson) and psychotic Angus (Jake Busey), who are acting on orders from their mother, Mrs. Lever (Catherine O'Hara). The unforgiving woman, suspecting Henry's unfaithfulness, decided to take revenge on her husband and his mistress. After Henry's death, while Angus is trying to uncover the girlfriend's identity, Dorian gets a job at the Burger-Matic, and, before anyone can say "romantic complications," he has fallen for Sally.
Home Fries is marred by two significant flaws, neither of which has anything to do with the premise, which is not inherently unpromising. The film's relentlessly eccentric tone is the first problem. Every character in this movie, except perhaps for Sally and, to a degree, Dorian, is an over-the-top caricature. People are weird for no reason except that director Dean Parisot and writer Vince Gilligan mistakenly think it will make them more interesting. While it's fine for motion picture inhabitants to exhibit peculiarities, it becomes tiresome when that's all there is to each supporting character. Quirkiness is even desirable as one of many traits, but it should not be the defining mark of every personality. Catherine O'Hara's Mrs. Lever is strangely reminiscent of Kathleen Turner's Serial Mom (it's an impressive performance in the service of a not-so-impressive character). Jake Busey's Angus is a lifeless, one-dimensional psycho with a serious Oedipus complex. And Sally's dad (Lanny Flaherty), who strolls into the burger joint with a shotgun and holds everyone hostage, is really a nice guy - when he's not drinking, that is.
The second serious crack in Home Fries' facade is the central romance. Despite a few sweet scenes (such as one where Dorian accompanies Sally to a Lamaze class), these two characters never click. They might be believable as best friends or brother and sister, but there's such a lack of passion that it's hard to imagine these two generating any kind of heat. And, while Barrymore can certainly hold her own, Luke Wilson (Bottle Rocket) plays Dorian in such a low-key manner that he frequently fades into the background. Admittedly, his character is supposed to be meek, and the actor radiates likability, but he lacks screen presence. In too many scenes, Dorian is more like a footnote than an integral part of the action.
The script is an amalgamation of romantic comedy contrivances, offbeat humor that's more often bizarre than funny, and satire that doesn't work. The audacity of the subplot, with Henry's family conspiring to eliminate Sally, keeps us interested for a little while, but quickly becomes tiresome. In the end, Home Fries is a fast-food type of movie - it looks good in the commercials and is easy to sit through, but it doesn't offer much in the way of satisfaction, and is prone to lead to the cinematic equivalent of indigestion afterwards.
© 1998 James Berardinelli